Anche quest'anno il 5 per mille alla IALCA

Ormai è tempo di dichiarazione dei redditi...Anche quest'anno, per gli italiani, non dimenticate di assegnare il 5 per mille alla IALCA, Associazione Italiana LCA. Come scrive il Presidente Nicola Stilla "...donare il 5 per mille della propria dichiarazione dei redditi a IALCA è uno dei modi più facili, economici ma estremamente efficaci per aiutare l'Associazione. Infatti NON COSTA ASSOLUTAMENTE NULLA, basta semplicemente mettere una firma nello spazio dedicato sul modulo per la dichiarazione dei redditi e riportare il codice fiscale della IALCA che è il seguente: 96036310181"

Grazie

Francesca

15th LCA gene identified!

Dr. Robert Koenekoop of Montreal Children's hospital did it again. For the third time, his team has discovered a gene which, when mutated, can lead to Leber's Congenital Amaurosis. First came CEP290 in 2006, then LCA5 followed just one year later. Now it's the turn of SPATA7. Mutations in this gene disrupt the protein transport between two important compartments of the cell: the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. All proteins in every cell have to pass through this transport pathway; thus SPATA7 plays a major role in vision.

Read more on this breaking news in the MUHC release
http://www.muhc.ca/media/news/item/?item_id=104925

Stem cell therapy restores some visual function in crx-deficient mice

1: Cell Stem Cell. 2009 Jan 9;4(1):73-9.

Transplantation of human embryonic stem cell-derived photoreceptors restores some visual function in crx-deficient mice.

Lamba DA, Gust J, Reh TA.

Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Some of the most common causes of blindness involve the degeneration of photoreceptors in the neural retina; photoreceptor replacement therapy might restore some vision in these individuals. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) could, in principle, provide a source of photoreceptors to repair the retina. We have previously shown that retinal progenitors can be efficiently derived from human ESCs. We now show that retinal cells derived from human ESCs will migrate into mouse retinas following intraocular injection, settle into the appropriate layers, and express markers for differentiated cells, including both rod and cone photoreceptor cells. After transplantation of the cells into the subretinal space of adult Crx(-/-) mice (a model of Leber's Congenital Amaurosis), the hESC-derived retinal cells differentiate into functional photoreceptors and restore light responses to the animals. These results demonstrate that hESCs can, in principle, be used for photoreceptor replacement therapies.

PMID: 19128794 [PubMed - in process]

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov